


Orpheus

by Starofwinter



Series: Sweetest Downfall [8]
Category: Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss
Genre: Alternate Ending, Character Death Fix, M/M, Mythology References, True Love, True Love's Kiss, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 21:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16648472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: Atin has to find a way to bring Sev back.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate ending/extended edition to Sweetest Downfall. It's not _really_ canon, but if you want to consider it the canon ending to the series, you can.

_ “Tell me later, I’ll say it back, promise.” _

Sev’s last words haunt him still.  Atin hears them in his dreams, his nightmares, when he sits at the table with his squad, when he lays in his bunk at night, alone and biting his wrist to keep from crying again.  

He has to fix this.  Somehow, he has to fix it.

 

“I need to bring him back.  I did research, stories from the old kaysh’tayle, about marching away and  _ coming back _ .  I have to do it.  Will you help me?”  The words tumble out in a rush as he sits across from Kal, and Atin swallows hard, fighting the urge to kneel and  _ beg _ him to help.  

“Atin, you know what you’re saying, don’t you?”  Kal doesn’t look like he’s laughing it off. He just looks  _ sad _ .  “You know the risks of something like that?”

He just nods.  “I’ll do anything for him.  I love him.” It seems so simple to say it now, now that Sev’s gone and he’ll never be able to say it to him again, unless he can find a way to bring him back.  “I can’t live without him.”  _ That’s _ what scares him.  That cold, terrifying, all-encompassing feeling of  _ loss _ , like their deep-water training, dropped into the freezing Kaminoan sea with no platform in sight.  Just the dark, cold water trying to pull them under. 

Kal sighs.  “I can’t tell you not to do this, you can make your own decisions, but it won’t be easy.  This could kill you.”

Atin shakes his head, looking down at his hands.  “I don’t care.” Sev died for him, how could he not be willing to do the same?

* * *

 

“I can’t go with you,” Kal says, “Just one, that’s all that can cross through.”  He reaches up, tugging Atin to touch their foreheads together. “Remember your training.  Stay low, stay quiet. Don’t make eye contact, don’t follow anybody or anything till you find him, and don’t give anybody your name.  They’ll lead you right to your death - a real one. Haran tries to take everybody it can, before they’re out of reach.” 

Atin listens to all of it before he nods, reaching up to rest his hand at the back of Kal’s neck.  Kal swallows hard and nods. “Alright,” he says quietly, “You go where I told you, and you follow the path, and- you come back.”  His voice is rough, and it shakes even though he’s trying to look confident; Atin knows there are tears in his eyes behind the visor, but he doesn’t say anything.  

Instead, he straightens up and nods.  “I will, I promise, Kal’buir. I’ll come back, and I’ll bring Sev with me.”  He doesn’t say that he won’t come back  _ without _ Sev, but he thinks they both know that anyway.

Kal nods to him, tapping his vambrace to his chestplate before Atin repeats the gesture and walks away, the weight of his sergeant’s gaze on his back.

* * *

 

Atin makes his way down the path Kal had told him to follow.  He doesn’t look to the left or right, just walks straight ahead, trusting that his feet will find solid ground with each step.  Starlight, cold and distant, lights the way, but he doesn’t look up to see them. 

“Where are you going,  _ verd’ika _ ?” a kind voice asks, and it takes all his nerve not to jump at the sudden sound that breaks choking silence.  

“To find my  _ sol’runi _ ,” he answers.

“He isn’t marching with your ancestors,” they say, “His soul needs to rest.  Don’t you want to rest with him for a while?”

It’s tempting.  It’s such a tempting thought, suddenly, to lie down in the soft embrace of the clean earth at his feet.  There’s a bed made up for him, and he knows he could sink into it and  _ rest.   _ He’s so very tired…  

He shakes his head.  “No, I can’t.”

“Doesn’t he deserve to rest, after everything?  After he died for you?”

Sev does, and Atin feels guilty for asking for  _ more _ of him, for pulling him away from his peace.  

_ Don’t trust anybody _ .  He can hear Skirata’s voice in his head, and he straightens up.  “I need to find him.”

The comfortable bed he’d seen before is nothing more than an empty grave now, a black mouth waiting to swallow him whole.  He shakes off the temptation to  _ sleep,  _ and he runs.  He knows how to stay hidden; he’s trained his entire childhood, what there was of it, for this.

* * *

 

He runs and hides until he reaches someplace new - it looks like the Jedi Council room, but eerie and empty, save for one being.   He doesn’t hide this time, just marches straight up to Death and stares her in the eyes. 

“What’s your name, stubborn one?”  Death’s lips quirk in an approximation of a smile, if someone had never seen a smile before.

Atin takes a breath and stands at attention, lifting his chin to look Death in the eyes.  “I wasn’t given a name,” he says, “Only a number. RC-3222.” It’s true, in a way, he wasn’t  _ given _ a name, he had to  _ earn _ it.  

“And why have you come here, RC-3222, the undying?”  

“I came to bring my  _ sol’runi _ home.  His name is Sev.”

“Your soulmate?  That’s a hard request.  Why should I just let you walk away with him?”

“Because I love him.”  Atin lifts his chin, staring her down.  “Because I won’t leave without him.” 

“Then I keep two souls instead of one.  You aren’t giving me much incentive now, are you?”  She sounds amused.

Atin swallows hard.  “I’ll fight you for him.”  He survived Vau, he can survive this.  

She stands up, and he stands firm, his eyes on where he thinks hers should be, if it didn’t seem like she was flickering in and out of focus.  “You are foolish, but you are brave. In the end, you will both come to me, you understand this, don’t you?” Her hands feel like the tingling of an electrical storm building up as she rests them on his shoulders.

“I know.  But it’ll be together.”  Atin’s jaw clenches as he looks up at her.  “A long time from now.”

Death laughs, a sound that reminds him of scavenger birds, but she’s smiling as she says, “You  _ are _ a bold one.  Very well, RC-3222.  If he truly loves you, and you truly love him, you can have him back.   _ But _ , there will be a test of your love for one another.  Once you find him, you must lead him out. You cannot look back, only trust that he is following.   _ He _ must trust  _ you _ to tell the truth and not to lead him astray.  If you fail, I get to keep  _ both _ of you.”

What can he say?  “ _ Haat, ijaa, haa'it _ .”  

“ _ Haat, ijaa, haa'it _ .”

* * *

 

And then he’s standing in a cave, the pool beside him reflecting light from  _ somewhere _ onto the rock walls that shimmer with crystals.  It’s dizzying, but he makes his way to the body lying on the shore, one he knows as well as his own.  Sev’s body is overgrown with flowers, vines wrapped around him to form a living burial shroud, a blanket of color that looks beautiful on him.  They shift as he walks closer, exposing Sev’s face - it looks just the way he remembers, all sharp lines and the scar on his nose, the bump from breaking it one too many times - and he can’t resist the urge to kiss his soft, parted lips, too cold and ashen to be alive.  

The sharp inhale startles Atin so much he falls flat on his shebs.  He scrambles back, turning around quickly. He doesn’t know if Death meant that they couldn’t see each other from the moment Sev woke or not, but he can’t risk it.  

“Where am I?  Who are you?” 

His knees almost give out as he hears Sev’s rough voice, but he clenches his fists and locks his knees.  “It’s me, Sev, it’s Atin. Please listen to me. I need to to follow me, but don’t try to see my face. It’s a test, just- please trust me,” he begs softly.

“How do I know it’s you?”

Atin swallows.  “The last thing you told me was that if I waited, you’d say you loved me.”

He can hear Sev’s soft breath.  “How-”

“It doesn’t matter.  Just follow me.”

He holds his breath as he takes the first step, listening as close as he can to hear Sev walking behind him.  

Atin hopes the being following him  _ is _ Sev.  He hopes this isn’t another trick.  He hopes he has the willpower not to turn back.  

* * *

 

It’s quiet for a very long time, and Atin closes his eyes, pulling on every reserve of stubborn willpower he has to keep himself from turning to look back at Sev, to make sure he’s behind him.  

“Let me see your face,” the voice from behind him demands, “How do I know you’re really Atin?”

“Trust me,  _ please _ .  Just trust me.”   He wants to look back, to see Sev’s face again, but he  _ can’t. _  Not without losing him forever.  “I need you to trust me.”

Sev is quiet for a long moment.  “I only trust Atin that much. So you better be him, or I’m going to kill you.”

That makes Atin laugh out loud, the kind of hysterical laughter that comes with too much stress and exhaustion, and he shakes his head, closing his eyes for a second.  “I love you, shabuir,” he says, tears suddenly streaking down his dusty cheeks, “Fuck.”

The next thing he knows, a hand catches his, and he nearly jumps out of his skin.  “It’s just me.” Sev’s voice is right behind him, and he almost turns, but he  _ can’t _ .  He can’t.  

Neither of them say anything for a long time, and Atin thinks he might cry again as he sees the path getting brighter and the air getting clearer.   He can see Kal standing at the entrance, waiting patiently for them. 

Atin doesn’t say anything, just keeps walking, until he’s sure they’re far into the sunlight.  

He takes a deep breath, and he closes his eyes before he turns around.  

He doesn’t open them till he feels rough, chapped lips against his, and Sev’s arms around his waist, holding him tight.

They don’t pull away from each other until they need to breathe, and the first thing he sees is Sev’s eyes searching his, just before he says, “I love you.  Promised I’d say it back, didn’t I?”

All Atin can do is laugh, pressing his forehead to Sev’s shoulder, his own shaking as he laughs and cries in the same breath.

“I love you too, Sev.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kaysh’tayle - those who remember, those who pass down the old Mandalorian clan stories.  
> verd’ika - little soldier  
> sol'runi - soulmate  
> haat, ijaa, haa'it - truth, honor, vision; words used to seal a pact.  
> shabuir - an insult; like _jerk,_ but much stronger


	2. Epilogue

Decades later, Sev and Atinmarch away; they march together - old and gray and then young again - and they stand before the Manda side by side, the way they always said they would, their fingers laced together, shoulder to shoulder.

“Atin Nu’amu, the undying, and his  _ sol’runi _ , you’ve been expected for a very long time.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Sev says, and Atin squeezes his fingers and hisses at him to  _ shut the fuck up _ .

There’s an echo of laughter rippling through the starlit chamber.  “Disappointing? Hardly. It takes courage to march in and demand a soul be returned, and to be a soul worth demanding returned.  No other Mando’ade have ever held that kind of courage. You  _ belong _ among us, Atin and Sev, Nu’amu.  Your names will be remembered for centuries to come.”

Atin can’t think of a single fucking response to that, so instead, he turns to kiss Sev again, grinning into the kiss.  “You hear that? Centuries. We’re a kriffing fairytale.”

“Oh, so you think you’re the Protector in shining armor?”

“Well, you  _ were _ the one that woke up with a kiss-”

“And you haven’t let me forget it!”

“Why would I?”

They both stop in the same breath and grin, rolling their eyes at one another.

“I love you, di’kut.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
